Locomotive



May 27, 1930.

H; L. INGERSOLL LOCOMOTIVE Filed NOV. 25, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet IN VEN TOR A TTORNE Y5 May 27, 1930.

H. L. INGERSOLL LOCOMOTIVE Filed Nov. 25, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR I, "Wt/,0

ATTORNEYS May 27,1930. H. L. INGERSOLL LOCOMOTIVE 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed No v. 25, 1923 F- W: L J l A TTORNE Y5 y 27, 1930-- H. L. INGERSOLL 1,760,139

LOCOMOTIVE Filed Nov. 25, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet. 4

l IJ E EH I II war/a K BY A TTORNEYZS Patented May 27, 1930 unrrsu STATES PATENT OFFICE HOWARD L. INGERSOLL, OF STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT LOCOMOTIVE Application filed. l Tovember 23, 1923. Serial No. 676,497.

- tear on rails and equipment. I have discovered that greatly increased efficiency and power can be secured without corresponding increase in size and weight, by employinga special drive or transmission between the prime movers or engines and the drive wheels, instead of the usual direct connections, and using substantially higher boiler pressures than heretofore. By means of a steam-electric drive, I can overcome the practical limitation on boiler pressure heretofore imposed by the limited adhesion, of drive wheels to track under a given deadweight load (i. e., g

the factor of adhesion, as it is commonly termed), so that I am enabled, with suitable boiler construction, to employ very high steam pressures and temperatures indeed: e. g., double or treble the present working pressure of about 200 lbsrper sq. in.

The increase in powerand efficiency obtainable by such high boiler presure will readily be appreciated by steam engineers. The electric drive is well adapted'to such presures (as already intimated) for several reasons: e. g., it gives uniform torque the drivers; its flexibility allows the drivers to be of the most advantageous sizes, and permits drivers and prime movers to operate at the speeds most favorable for each; and it allows any or even all the wheels of locomotive and tender tobe used as drivers, and thus reduces the torque that must be utilized at each without slippage,especially in starting.

In other words, a drive or transmision that is flexible in the sense of allowing prime movers and drivers to operateat different speeds makes the factor of adhesion of the locomotive practically independent of and unafiected by the high boiler pressure. In

the ordinary locomotive, this is not the case, because the piston thrust that determines the driver'torque varies directly according to the boiler pressure.

' The maximum of power from the old reciprocating drive direct to the wheels has probably been reached. Withsuch drive it locomotive to operation with fuel has been impossible heretofore to make use of very high boilerpressures for the reason that as the pressure increases the torque increases, especially in starting, and a too greatly increased pressure means a slippery locomotive. Of course 'thefactor of adhesion can be and has been raised by increasing the weight on the drivers but this process has about reached its limit.

I overcome the difliculty as indicated, by using a steam electric drive with very high boiler pressure. In this Way the factor of adhesion will not beaifected, as it were, by the high boiler pressure. p In otherwords, I use a pressure which would normally cause slippage in any oldtype locomotive with direct reciprocating drive. 1 y I I prefer to use a turbineor turbines to generate the current because they eliminate reciprocating motion and thus save wear and tear. Furthermore,a turbine operated by the high pressure steam which I propose constitutes a prime mover which is suificiently efficient to Warrant its adoption. In all turbo electric locomotives hitherto suggested, 1n so far as I am aware, the use of a condenser has always been attempted in order to avoid the loss ofeificiency dueto the turbine as against a reciprocating engine when uslng steam at ordinary pressures. The condenser for a locomotive of a few hundred horse power would not be preposterous but one for a 3500 horse power locomotive would be entirely out of the question. The amount of water requiredto condense for such a machine would be tremendous or if, on the other hand, an air cooled condenser were adopted, it would take several car, loads of piperacks.

Furthermore, by my invention I am enabled to use the exhaust-steam from the turbinefor draftpurposes, a feature whlch, of course, would be impossible w1th low pressure turbines and condensers.

In order to derive the fullest. advantage from the high boiler pressure, I also aim to enable such highpressure to be carriedwithout making the boiler shell, etc.,'excessively thick and heavy. I also aim to adapt the burned in suspension, (such as oil). in a novel manner.

The use of oil as fuel favors the compactness of steam generating plant so essential in a locomotive. In the case of a boiler of the general Scotch drum type, such as hereinafter particularly shown anddescribed, the use of such fuels as above mentioned favors reduction in the diameters of combustion fines and firetubes, so as to stand the high pressure without excessive thickness weight.

How all these and other advantages can be realized through my invention will appear from my description hereinafter of the best embodiment known to me, comprising a turbo-electric locomotive equipped with my pre ferred type of boiler adapted for pressures of 400 to 600 lbs. persq. in. or upward.

In the drawings, l-fis a side view of such a locomotive conveniently embodying my invention.

' Fig.2 shows a vertical fore and aft midsection through the boiler of the locomotive show-n in'Fig 1.

Fig. 3 shows a transverse section through I the boiler, at the firing end, taken as indi c ated by the line 33 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 "is a fragmentary head on View of the locomotive, with certain parts broken away and in section asi-ndicated by the line 44 in Fig. .2. r

Fig. '5 shows -a-fragmentary longitudinal I midsection through a boiler of-slig'htly differ ent construction, taken as indicated by the line '55 in Fig.6. r

Fig. '6 is a fragmentary head .on y-iew (of the boiler shown in Fig. 5.

7 a fragmentary midsectiona'l view o fja'bo-ijler construction di-lljerent rom those of Figs.'14 and and Fig. 8 is a head on view of the boiler, with certain parts omitted Referring, first, to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the locomotive shown is of the general turbo-electric type set forth in my pending application Serial N 0. 556,228 filed April 24, .1922, since issued .on January 25, 1927, as Patent No. 1,615,454. This locomotive comprises a boiler 10 mounted on interconnected vehicles or carriages 11. "Each of these vehicles 11 comprises a couple of wheel trucks '12 and 13 with radius bar interconnection. The tender 14 that carries the supplies .of water andfuel is similarly mounted on another carriage 11. As shown, similar ends of all adjacent vehicles 11 are intercon- :nected. The foremost radially or laterally swinging trucks 13 0f locomotive and tender lead and the rear swinging truck 13 of the locomotive trails.- mounted onthe axles of all 'theloaded wheels Driving motors 15 are Qf loo-0.1. .1Qiiive and tender. These motors 15 may be operated lbycurrentptajken from an ordinary jtroll'leyfortliird rail system by over he d trbflley 11-6 or third rail contact slioes 17;;

.01 thgy may "b'e'operatedby current from generators 20 driven by steam turbines 21 through reduction gearing 22. As shown,

these latter parts 20, 21,22 are all mounted on the platform of the forward vehicle 11, the turbines 21 ahead of the boiler 10, and the generators 20 and gearing 22 at either side. (See Fig. 4.) The turbines 21 take steam from the boiler 10 through piping equipped with regulators 23 such as shown in my aforesaid application. The locomotive is here indicated as equipped for firing with oil supplied from the tender 14 through flexible pipes 24. Referring, now, more especially to Figs. 2, 3, and 4, it will be seen that my im- 7 be installed above theusual level, with stay rods .31 within them; or some of the tubes 28 above the water level may simply be plugged off, as at 32, to leave them dead'and' prevent their burning out. As shown, the flue sheets 29 are curved or dished inward, to"

strengthen all areas not stayed by the tubes 28 or the rods 31.

Being fired with fuel burnedin suspension instead of on grates, the flues27 need not be so large as in ordinary Scotch boilers e. g, they may be about 20" inside diameter, and the lines 28 about 3 The outer shell 26 may be .of steel plate corresponding in thickness to present practice for pressures of 200 lbs. or more, and may be externally girdled with steel wire reinforcement 33 of high tensilestrength, to enable it to stand theniuch higher pressures that I contemplate This reinforcement may be applied by placing the boiler in centers and winding the wire 33 on it (very much as in the manufacture of 5 heavy ordnance), suitably securing the ends of the tvire to the shell, as by welding :the'end conavolutions. the wire :33, the seams ofthe shell 26 may be butt seams with butt straps 34 on the inside, asshown, and the external rivet heads 35 may be countersunk. For like reasons all fittings and connections may preferably be applied to the end sheets'29. s

In the present instance, the boiler 10' is arranged to be fired fromthe rear end of the locomotive, by oil burningapparatus comprehensively indicated at :36; the combustion chamber '37 is at the front; and qthere 1s a ducts of combustionissuing from the return tubes 28. .To make the locomotive conform to ordinary practice, the products of, combustion may be led forward from :thesnioke To avoid interference with use smoke box 38 at the rear, to receive the pro- 1 box 38 through a casing :39: extending along if. 3

. 2 and 4).

the main drum 25, to a stack above the combustion chamber 37; instead of discharging directly from the smoke box itself.

. A draft is created, for example, by means of a suction fan 76 in the stack 40, which fan is driven preferably by means of a small turbine 7 7 conveniently located on some por' tion of the adjacent boiler structure. The exhaust steam from the turbines 21 is utilized through the conduit 78 to operate the fan. The stack is reversely curved, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in order to provide an arrangement which will make possible a horizontal disposition of the direct drive shaft 79. However, other fan arrangements might be employed equally well and it is not my intention to limit the invention to this precise construction.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, there is a separate smoke conduit 41 in the casing 39; and an air supply conduit 42 for the burners 36 extends rearward around this smoke conduit 41 from a grated intake 43 at the front of the locomotive and of the casing 39 (Figs. There is a separate steam drum 45 connected to the main drum 25 at either end by U-bent connections 46 taking into the ends of both drums.

The combustion chamber 37 is shown as consisting of a rounded metal shell with refractory lining of fire bricks 47. Against the inside of the latter are a series of water circulating tubes 48 bent in substantially vertical planes, (as shown in Figs. 5 and 6,hereinafter described), with their lower and up per ends secured in the outer zone of the flue sheet 29, below the fines 27 and above the fire tubes 28. As shown,-the outer zone of the flue sheet 29 that takes the tubes 48 is reinforced and strengthened with a sheet metal band 49. The tubes 48 not only help the steaming of the boiler, but also cool and protect the combustion chamber lining 47 against erosion or slagging. In the present instance, the smoke box 38 consists simply of a sheet metal shell without refractory ciencyof operation still more by the higher temperature, etc. To avoid slagging troubles in the case of powdered fuel, and excessive thickness of'flues, the superheater employed is preferably located in the smoke box 38 rather than in enlarged firetubes, as is the usual locomotive practice. Accordingly, the saturated steam pipe 54 extends rearward in the casing 45 to a superheater 55 located in the midst of the smoke box 38, right in the path of the products of combustion issuing from the flues 28. As shown, the superheater 55 is of the closed end-and internal circulatingtube type. From it, the superheated steam is led forward through apipe 56 in the casing 45 to the regulators 23 and the turbines 21. After passing amongst the superheater tubes, the products of combustion rise to the opening of the downward and rearward curved smoke conduit 41.

Preferably, the feedwater from the tender 14 is led forward through a flexible connection 57 to a feedwater heater 58 in the smoke box 38. As shown, the feedwater heater 58 is double, consisting of headers 61, 62 and interconnecting curved tubes .63 at either side of the superheater 55. The water enters the upper headers 61, passes down through the tube banks 63 in parallel, and

passes from the lower headers 62 tothe rear end of the drum. 25 at the bottom, through pipes 64 connected into the rear sheet 29.

In the present instance, it will be seen (Figs. 2 and 3), the smoke box 38 not only encloses the rear endsof the return tubes 28 from its rear wall and discharging directly into the rear end of the flue. There are also supplemental air supply pipes 68 extending forward in each flue 27 to suitable outlets 69. As shown, each of the pipes 68 is flattened to an arcuate cross-section within the flue-27, so as to lie snug in its bottom and obstruct the flue as little as possible and there may be a number of them for each flue arranged to discharge at different points along the length thereof. In the present disclosure I have illustrated two for each flue. The air pipes 67 and 68 for each flue 27 are supplied b y a branch 72 of the main air pipe 42. Each of the branches 72 is provided with a rotary blower 7 3v of any suitable type driven in any preferred manner (not shown), to supplement or replace the air pressure resulting from the motion of the locomotive when the latter is running slow, standing still, or back mg.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate a slightly diflerent construction, with a flat tube sheet 29 and, consequently, more stays 31. In these figures, various parts and features are markedwith the same reference characters as in Figs. 14, as a means of dispensing with merely repetitive description.

Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate another construc- 6 to the drum shell 26. As here shown, the ends of the shell 26 have external sheet metal reinforcing bands 75 around them, and the connections {L6 take into the shell through these. The reinforcing wire 33 for the rest of the shell 26 laps over on these bands 7 5 a few convolutions at either end, and is welded to them. Thisconstruction permits a very short connection 46 into the top of the drum 25, and tends to give a freer flow of steam and to render the steam drier,since there is less tendency for the rocking of the locomotive in its sudden variation in speed to throw water into the connections.

Attention is called to the fact that the claims of the present application are not directed to the combination of a locomotive having the high boiler pressures and the flexible, steam-electric drive disclosed herein as this subject matter has been made the basis of my divisional, copending application, Se

rial No. 150,005, filed Nov. 22, 1926.

I claim V 1. A locomotive boiler comprising a main drum with fire fiues and return tubes, a smoke box at the rear thereof, and a ca. extending'forward along said drum from said smoke box; a steam drum in said casing receiving steam for said main drum; a super: heater-in said smoke box receiving steam from said steam drum; a feed-water heater in said smoke boxdelivering into said main drum; and a supply conduit for air for combustion extending rearward through said casing.

2. A locomotive boiler comprising a main 7 drum with fire fiues and return tubes, smoke box at the rear thereof, and a smoke passa e leading forward from said smoke box; a steam drum receiving steam from saia drum; a superheater in said smoke box receiving steam from said steam drumi with delivery pipe extending forward thererrom; a feedwater heater in said smoke box delivering into said main drum; and a supply cons duit for air for combustion extending rearward and heated by the tion in said passage, I v 7 3. A locomotive boiler comprising a drum with fire fines and return tubes, a smoke box at one end of said drum, and burners in said smoke box exposed to the gases the-rein and arranged to discharge into said 'fiues.

4.. A locomotive boiler comprising drtun with fire fiues and return tubes, a -smoke box at one end of said drum, and burners extendpr-oduots of comb-usingtrom itsopposite Wall across through the smoke box to discharge into said flues.

ii. A locomotive boiler comprising a main drum with fire flues and return'tubes, means forming a combustion chamber at one end of said. drum and'a smoke box at the other, burners in said smoke box exposed to the gases therein'and arranged to discharge intosaid dues, and a superheatersill said smoke box above said burners. 7

6. Alocomotive boiler comprising a drum with fire flues and return tubes, a smoke box at one end of said drum, heating means at the sides of said smoke box, heating means in the upper regions of the smokebox, above said fiues, and burners in said smoke box below said latter heatin means discl'iarging into said flues.

'. A locomotive boller comprising a drum with fire fiues and return tubes, a smoke box I.

ture forming a smoke box at the rear of said drum and extending forward along it, with passage for products of combustion from said smoke box forward therethrough, burners in said smoke box discharging into said flues, and means for supplying to said burners extending rearward through said casing structure and heated by the products of combustion.

9. -A locomotive boiler comprising a drum with fire fines and return tubes; and a combustion chamber having a substantially hemispherical portion at one end of said drum, said portion being formed by suitably curved water tubes providing a continuous connection from said drum below said fiues atone end back to said drum above said tubes at the other. 7 7 a 10. A high pressure locomotive boiler comprising a round drum with fireflues and return tubes therein, a reinforcing band for the zone of its end outside said tubes and fiues, and Water tubes with their ends secured in said band below said vflues and above said return tubes.

11. A locomotive boiler comprising in combination, a drum, a fire flue extending therethrough, return tubes in the drum above said flue, a burner for projecting fuel into one end of said drum, a substantiallyhemispherical combustion chamber at the other end of said flue receiving the discharge therefrom, arefractory lining in said hemispherical chamber, substantially U-bent water tubes inward of said lining, said tubes having their lower ends connected to the head of the drum below said flue and their upper ends connected to the head of the drum above said tubes, and ,a smoke box at the burner end of said drum.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name. I

HOWARD L. INGERSOLL. 

